Sydney – An Australian soldier facing expulsion from East Timor for trying to be a "spymaster" was well-intentioned but misguided, former Interfet commander Major General Peter Cosgrove said Tuesday.
The soldier, a member of the UN peacekeeping force that replaced the UN-backed Interfet, is being disciplined for paying an East Timorese civilian 20 dollars (12 US) to collect information about militia activity in Indonesian West Timor.
The commanding officer of the UN peacekeepers, Lieutenant-General Jaime de los Santos, had to apologise to Indonesian defence force chief Admiral Widodo on Monday over the incident, which has embarrassed Australia. Santos also announced he would ask the United Nations to order the soldier's withdrawal.
Cosgrove, who planned and led the operation that restored peace in East Timor after militia violence last September, told reporters he believed the soldier had done the wrong thing with good intentions.
"You can't see it in any other way than the young man striving in this way – which probably turned out to be misguided – to achieve a bit of extra foreknowledge on the activities of these marauding militia," he said. "It was not appropriate, but we should probably keep it in the context that this was quite a junior man who was acting in a well-intentioned and misguided way."
Cosgrove, who is now Land Commander based in Sydney, said even if the soldier was sent home the punishment should not be excessive. "He was quite a junior soldier, and the motivation of course is only to ensure protection for our own forces and the East Timorese," he said. "And from my point of view, once all this is over, he should return to what I'm sure is meritorious service."
A spokesman for the Australian Defence Force said the soldier would be removed when a formal UN request was received. Currently 1,600 Australian military personnel and 300 support staff are participating in the UN peacekeeping operation in East Timor.
Cosgrove's Australian troops who spearheaded the Interfet operation in East Timor are to be honoured with a welcome home parade here on Wednesday.